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Day five started with an early breakfast with another batch of Japanese tourists who delighted in taking pictures of anything that moved and pushing in at the coffee queue…. much to the annoyance of Mrs. Hewitt! The first insult of the day arrived as Mr. Altdorf explained he was wearing a Valencia top from his last trip to Valencia ten to twelve years ago.  At which point a bemused Xander cried out, “what, it still fits.” This followed on from the previous evening when playing a literacy development game, Mr. Suter was described as not fit or cool as he innocently asked the question, “this is something I am not.” Answers on a postcard to steve@hotmail.com.

Fed and watered we set off for the Paterna training ground for one last time.  Molly continued the trend for walking into Spanish lamp posts and Josh caused panic in the ranks by suggesting the only thing he.could think of to improve the trip was to add a morning run before training!

Today the coaches decided a mixed tournament was the most fitting way to see if the training and education could be put into action. The girls captained each of the five teams and once the selection process was complete it was almost time to go back!  Actually, in all fairness, the teams turned out to be evenly matched and the battles raged on relentlessly.

Luca impressed the coaches with an incredible double save from point blank range. Josh danced through the whole team before being dropped to the floor with a crunching tackle and a “Yes! Yes!” from Nyla. Lily scored with a stunning volley whilst Freya tucked in from close range at the other end, much to the surprise of Daniel.  Evie perfected her cartwheels in defence, Mia offered words of encouragement and advice on technical development of the said cartwheel and Isabella patrolled the midfield ferociously.

Anna produced a crazy Coutinho type flick to provide an assist for Alfie F, much to the delight her team mates.  Dravid showed a blistering turn of pace to fly down the wing and cross perfectly Freddie to slot home coolly.  Dante and Matteo faced off in a titanic battle for the ball that had more of a WWF feel than a UEFA feel.  Dexter tracked Ethan back like a hunter following his prey and then it was onto the only way to finish a football tour… the penalty shootout. Harper led his Manchester City team, including Archie, Toby, Molly, Dexter and Reis to an eventful dramatic win over a Juventus team despite a brilliant penalty from Matthew.

And so to the beach for the afternoon.  Harrison kicked us off with a stint on the microphone to lead us all in “Sweet Caroline.”  A stop off at Valencia’s most treasured, futuristic vision for the future with incredible feats of architectural genius proved too much for our exciting youngsters who just wanted to get to the beach.

On arrival at the beach we ate a picnic lunch and got ready for the race into the sea.  An afternoon in the sun was the perfect way to end a football tour.  Wave jumping, volleyball, football and frisbee throwing were just some of the activities on offer for the afternoon. The question of the day came from Daniel who enquired, “Do fish live in the sea?”  An ice cream shop was discovered along with a healthy food and drinks bar.  An impressive number of smoothies was bought, and a not so impressive amount left!

After a great afternoon, 39 pink faces left the beach and returned to the hotel for a final assault on the now customary three course meal. A stunned look crept across a host of bemused faces when it was announced that packing and room checks would be imminent and an early night essential.  Miss Armstrong and Mrs. Hewitt offered to read bedtime stories “Jackbnorwhy” style, but nobody knew what this was. It was agreed that a variety of devices could be used to watch the Champions League game at Old Trafford this evening…. and of course, we are all cheering on our new friends Valencia CF.